New York State Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado paid a visit to Pine Bush Friday, meeting with Superintendent Brian Dunn at the district office and visiting Pine Bush High School afterwards.
Board President Gretchen Meier and board members Erik Buckley, Kristi Kheiralla and Matt Watkins, as well as district and high school administrators greeted Delgado at Pine Bush High School. Members of the Interact Club, Youth in Government Club, College American History and AP American Government and Politics classes gathered in the PBHS auditorium. Nicholas Ruggeri led the Select and Seraphim choirs in an incredible rendition of the National Anthem.
Several students presented to the lieutenant governor about their paths in high school, including to earn the seal of civic readiness. Then Delgado talked briefly about his journey and answered questions from the students, which gave even more insight into his path.
Delgado has a pretty unique route to where he is today. He explained that he learned about service to his community through growing up in his church. He did not grow up in a family with means – “I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. We cut coupons!” he said. After going to Colgate University and Harvard Law School, he did not go into law or politics. Instead, he moved to Los Angeles and became a hip hop artist.
After too many nights sleeping on air mattresses, he said, he came back home to New York and ventured into corporate law. A big change in his life for sure. He got married and had twin sons and was on the path to becoming a partner in his law firm. He realized he wasn’t happy or fulfilled in his profession, so he decided to jump into political life.
He ran for the United States House of Representatives from New York’s 19th Congressional District in 2018, defeating the incumbent in one of the most rural districts in the country. He credits personally connecting with voters for his victory. That and the fact that his opponent tried to paint him negatively because of his hip hop past. That turned voters off.
Delgado encouraged the students to find and use their voices. He acknowledged that his parents were able to filter much of what went on in the world when he was growing up. “I never got to know my power until later in life,” he said.
“You have a lot not being filtered. It’s always coming at you and that’s a heavy burden,” he added. “The gift is you know your power. You know your voice.”
Why politics, asked one student. Delgado explained he became a student of politics in college after learning about the civil rights movement and the partnership between activism and government. “I never felt I had the stomach to deal with the BS that comes with running for office,” he said, including raising money. “I didn’t have money but I didn’t like what I was seeing and didn’t want to stay on the sidelines.”
A lot of people said he couldn’t win in a district that was 90 percent white and very rural, he said. “I think my faith made me win.” He knocked on doors and used what he called “the human touch.”
“We’re all human and have the capacity to love. We connected,” he added.
He counted on people who connected with him. “You lead with love and care about people,” he said. “That’s what I ground myself in to this day. You are connected. It becomes your super power.” A public servant, he said, must be able to connect with everyone.
Another student asked about his connection to his church. “Having a moral compass is the bedrock of any political system,” he said. “We talk about left versus right. We should look at right versus wrong. Do you have integrity? Do you care?
“The focus should be on perfecting the union,” he said. “The key is can we disagree and be civil. It’s important for us to come together and unite with our differences.”
Delgado thanked the students for their thoughtful questions and for being interested.
After leaving the auditorium, he toured some of the artwork throughout the high school, talking with Diane Trad and Janice Barth about the program and the works by the students.
He made his way downstairs into the Haas Innovation Center, the first of its kind in any high school in the country. Delgado talked to students and teachers working in the Haas Center and showed his interest in the work they were doing. The students presented him with a metal cutout of the state of New York, with Pine Bush marked with a star.
He went on to the Skilled Trades Academy where the students are working on trackless roller coasters. The four groups each presented their projects to him.
Delgado then headed to Ellen Friel’s class where she showed him their latest projects – skateboards, in all different designs and shapes.
His last stop was in the wood processing class, where students were working on building tables with some pretty intricate tops. He discussed with several students how they made their choices for the shape of the table and their tops. He was very grateful when teacher David Gibaldi gave him a hand-crafted wooden puzzle for his kids.
“We are grateful to Lieutenant Governor Delgado for coming to Pine Bush,” said Superintendent Dunn. “This was a world-class visit with a strong message of moral guidance for our students.”
